Behind The Cans At Blake’s Hard Cider

You ever fall in love with a drink, then it vanishes from the shelf like it never existed? We sit down with Mike Didio from Blake’s Hard Cider to talk about why seasonals rotate, how new flavors get approved, and what it takes to keep a craft brand growing without losing what made it great in the first place. 

We taste through the lineup and get into the details that actually matter: what makes a hard cider feel “dry” versus “sweet,” why American Apple works so well as an 8% imperial cider, and how packaging and shelf presence can make or break a launch at big retailers like Meijer, Kroger, and Total Wine. Then Mike drops big news for longtime fans of Black Philip, including what’s changing and why it’s sticking around. 

The conversation opens up past cider into the bigger Blake’s Beverage Co world, including Austin Eastciders and summer-ready lemonade flavors like Dragon Fruit Lemonade and Brazilian Limeade. We also try Short Thing, a vodka lemonade RTD that’s built to compete with national ready-to-drink cocktails, and we get the honest, behind-the-scenes version of beverage innovation: trend data, tasting room trials, scaling costs, and deciding what becomes year-round versus a limited test. 

If you’re into Michigan craft cider, cider tasting notes, RTD cocktails, or just want a fun happy hour with real stories and real opinions, hit play. Subscribe, share with a fellow cider fan, and leave a review with the one Blake’s flavor you want back.

Transcript

Welcome To Happy Hour

SPEAKER_00 0:24

We're gonna drink a fine whiskey and smoke a really fine cigar.

Jamie Flanagan 0:33

Well, it is time for Happy Hour, the Man Cave Happy Hour, Whiskey Cigar, Spirits, the stories that go along with it. Jimmy Flanagan.

Matt Fox 0:40

You know, we missed him last week because he had life shit going on. Life shit. What did I have? August Gitchlag is in the house. Hey, I'm back, guys.

unknown 0:47

Was it?

Matt Fox 0:48

Did you have fun without me? No, uh, no.

August Gitshlag 0:51

That's what I want to hear. Well, we have this. We had a great conversation. The super sexy Matt Fox next to me. Thank you. Yes, I was stuck in a uh budget hearing in my wonderful day job. See, life shit. Yeah, life shit. Yeah, there's no odds on that one. But anyway, it was productive.

Matt Fox 1:07

The past few weeks, we've we've we we've had some experiences where we have folks in studio with us. Really excited to have someone here with us. Have so many people with us.

Jamie Flanagan 1:17

Yeah, we had to open up the annex again.

Guests Join The Man Cave

Matt Fox 1:19

Yeah, we really did. We got a peanut gallery again. But here at the table with us, we have Mike Didio.

Jamie Flanagan 1:27

I put this here, pick reveal.

August Gitshlag 1:29

Yay! Mike Diddy Blake's hard cider is in the house. Someone I've been fortunate enough to work with on many a charity. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:37

Happy to be back.

August Gitshlag 1:38

It's been too long. So you walked in, you're like, is this new?

SPEAKER_04 1:41

Yeah.

Jamie Flanagan 1:42

Is this not a hot sack of yeah, because the American Apple was just coming out.

SPEAKER_04 1:48

You are correct.

Jamie Flanagan 1:48

Uh, the last time we talked, that it was just that shift from the the flannel mouth to the American Apple. That's a hell of a memory, right there. So, well, because I was you wouldn't even know it drinks as much as he does.

SPEAKER_04 1:58

I was I was a little torn because I really like the flannel mouth and I was hoping it would be as good. And it is, you know, the one that's been my absolute fave. Uh it's not here. Black Philip. Oh, yeah.

August Gitshlag 2:09

See, this is that's the blood away. I'm gonna get out right now. This is my freaking problem with Blake's. Yeah, as soon as I fall in love with one of their expressions, it's gone. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 2:18

I got a little secret about Black Philip though.

Jamie Flanagan 2:20

So all right, we'll talk, we'll talk about that. Um, but we gotta go to the annex before we do that and bring in our other guests. We here we are as well. Handheld microphones.

SPEAKER_01 2:31

I'm not standing this week as I we did uh a couple weeks ago, but uh this is all good.

August Gitshlag 2:36

Yeah, we're afraid we're gonna fall asleep if you're you're sitting down, so I made a stand this time.

SPEAKER_04 2:39

So we'll call anybody ever wants to come and hang out in the man cave while we're doing this. We'll open up the annex and you can join us. And uh we love the extra voices, yes, absolutely.

Matt Fox 2:48

So we got David Wright, the motor's dentist is here.

SPEAKER_01 2:52

And by the way, just uh set your clocks. I I go on right after this podcast is over.

August Gitshlag 2:56

He's basically like our Billy Preston. Yeah, he's like the fifth beetle. It is, yeah.

Matt Fox 3:00

I am, I'm the fifth beetle. Nothing from nothing is nothing, and then friend of the show. This microphone is on. Yeah, you're a little yeah, hey, is this thing on? Hey, is this thing on?

Jamie Flanagan 3:11

Wayne is with us again. Wayne, thanks for being here. I don't know what's going on on that.

Matt Fox 3:15

Yeah, thanks. I'm the dung beetle, and it's uh it's uh the dung beetle. All right, I think I'm good. All right, yeah, you sound better, you sound better, and then yeah, so that's another Hawaiian shirt, another day of another Hawaiian shirt.

Jamie Flanagan 3:25

Every day, I love those. That was kind of my plan for my retirement here at school. Hawaiian shirts or flannels to run it out on the on the on the Hawaiian gear. Yeah, no, well, because it's this crisp autumn day, is why we're talking about flakes. People listen whenever, but the irony of that is it's the middle of spring here in Michigan and it's cold as balls. So I got my flannels.

August Gitshlag 3:45

It's absolutely friggin' delightful outside. Uh, it's nice, a beautiful vol day.

SPEAKER_04 3:49

It's a lovely day. It's a lovely go outside shorts and a hoodie.

SPEAKER_01 3:52

Jamie, I can defend your flannel. I am wearing one as well.

SPEAKER_04 3:55

See, he got the memo.

SPEAKER_01 3:56

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_04 3:57

Yeah, I'm ready for it. I feel I'm kind of schwitzing in here though. I just want to go golfing. It's I got the colors for it. Yeah, I don't golf until it's post you know above 65.

Gas Prices And Parking Lot Rage

Matt Fox 4:07

So I'm gearing up for it. I I got the mojo rolling for everybody here.

SPEAKER_04 4:11

I know, I know we don't talk politics. No, usually. No, but no, I just pretty no pretty heads up, but pretty excited.

Jamie Flanagan 4:20

Oh, yeah. Because whatever this guy's doing, he just he got he should just keep doing it. Because before, you know, my car would only hold$60 worth of gas. Now it'll hold like a hundred dollars worth of gas. Yeah, amazing how that works.

August Gitshlag 4:34

That's like a value. It's like and there's nothing cooler than a UFC fight on the lawn of the White House. Right over there. I'm so fired up for that.

Matt Fox 4:43

It's right over there.

August Gitshlag 4:44

I mean, it's so many things to be excited about. It's so much class.

Matt Fox 4:47

Oh, when he got asked that question, and he's like, Yeah, it's gonna be right over there. Oh good lord.

Jamie Flanagan 4:53

Uh, and he's like, you know, don't tempt him because it'll happen.

August Gitshlag 4:57

So I went to Sheets today in Fraser because I got the little gas discount.

Matt Fox 5:02

Is that that new location? The new location.

August Gitshlag 5:04

We took a picture on yeah, last time was Sunday night. We're leaving Eastern Market, and gas was 589 at that at that Exxon right there off the freeway. Yeah, I got 429 today.

SPEAKER_04 5:13

Yes, at Sheets, and that's kind of spread around the little city of Frazier. Yeah, it's a it's wars. The mire up there, and then the two the two right there. So I don't have to go down into that. She I almost got in a fist fight. We were talking about getting in a fist fight. Dave almost got a fist fight at a wedding years ago.

SPEAKER_01 5:29

Yeah, I was at like recently, you're goddamn adult. No, no, no. So I was like, it's probably like 20 something years ago. So he was still kind of an adult, sure. That's like 40-ish, you know.

unknown 5:39

20 is okay.

SPEAKER_01 5:41

At a sheets gas station? No, it was at a wedding.

SPEAKER_04 5:44

I was at the sheets wasn't open yet, so that cast station kitty corner.

August Gitshlag 5:48

Oh, yeah, low prices. The SNK. Yeah, it's hard to get in and out of there. It's a tight little spot.

Jamie Flanagan 5:52

And I pull up and I pull behind somebody, they pull out, I pull up the thing, and the guy's like comes comes up screaming at me. I was waiting, I was I've been waiting for 20 minutes. I go, Well, there's three empty pumps over there. I go, so you must be an idiot. Yeah, you a dumb dumb. If we're waiting, we're waiting 20 minutes to Costco. He wanted me to go behind the building. He was no cameras over there, come behind the building, no cameras over there. We'll settle this. Wow, really? I'm like, did you throw down? Dude, no, I did not. So um, I don't know what's happening.

SPEAKER_01 6:20

Dude, you probably saw the price on the on the sign and flipped out.

Jamie Flanagan 6:23

Yeah, it's uh so crazy town.

SPEAKER_04 6:26

I don't know. That's it.

Jamie Flanagan 6:27

So uh yeah, it's just wild. It was it was wild. People are people are uh it's it's it's the web gives you this perceived anonymity, and then people get people get out in the real world.

August Gitshlag 6:38

He said there's no cameras back there, I think it works there. Well, the thing is the cameras are all for Fraser Optical behind it. There are plenty of cameras on the back of that building.

Jamie Flanagan 6:46

Man, oh man. Anyway, so yeah, but uh people nutty over the gas prices. So yeah, it's uh crazy town. But uh August, we're gonna get to Mike eventually.

Indy 500 Plans And BYOB

SPEAKER_04 6:56

Sure. I'm not going anywhere. There's a there's a whole array. Was there anything you had?

August Gitshlag 7:01

I had some good, I had a crazy weekend, you know, as you all know.

SPEAKER_04 7:04

But sheets was good and good service.

August Gitshlag 7:07

As you all know, I didn't see last week, you know, uh Catherine fell victim to the demise of Spirit Airlines. So it's been a tough, tough week in my household. Yeah, that's stressful job and employment. But she decided that she is willing and and not willing, I'm gonna say willing. She is interested in going to the indie 500 with me. Oh, okay. That should be fine. She's never gone, of course. And I don't I go in every other year. That's a big travel weekend, so she's usually working, always working, yeah, or visiting her family. Right. So sure, sure. We tried to scramble to get a RV. I didn't have a camping passes. The camping passes go for 250 to 600 bucks in this lot, they're hard to find. I'm like, I don't know what to do. Did we rent a teardrop? You know, so we decided yet last night we were gonna get one of those back of the RV campers that kind of come off the back tailgate.

SPEAKER_06 7:53

Sure.

August Gitshlag 7:53

Yeah, because we had the Bronco, and we bought an air mattress that miraculously fit perfectly in the back of the Bronco. Hell yeah. We both jumped back there yesterday to make sure we wouldn't hate each other. We tested it out, it worked just fine. The tent showed up today. I still don't have passes, I don't have any tickets. I'm like, I don't know what to do. I get tagged in a post on Facebook from a guy we know in our Facebook family, our our folding family, who says, uh, hey, I I can't go. T Money and I can't go. We have an RV pass, we have all the tickets to everything. Wow, make me an offer. So I immediately, you know, text my friend John and say, John, what you know, what's going on? Well, I go we can't do it. It was got a thousand dollars worth of passes and everything for you. I give it to you for 500 bucks. So the stars aligned. So I immediately text Kat, I'm like, You cool with this? Because we were gonna try to sneak in with a tent and sure, like photocopy a hand of pass off on the corner and sneak into the campground. But now I got not only that, but she had no desire, she had no interest in going to the Indy 500. It wasn't like something on her radar, but she thinks the spectacle of it is kind of like fascinating. Sure. So these tickets are on the brick line, right there at the start-finish. Nice. So you look into the pits, you see all the celebrities, you see the whole thing, and that's come on, that's that's that's most of the fun is right there. Seeing all the celebrities. So we're doing technical changeovers here. So yeah, so that was a really good news today. So we got tickets to everything, good seats, no stress about getting into the campground. And the Matt.

Matt Fox 9:19

See, see, it's the microphone, yeah. So Kat and you get to go to experience, she gets to experience a weekend at the indie. Is that what I understand?

August Gitshlag 9:29

And and it's fascinating because I tried to like say this is where the lot is, and I pulled it up on satellite, and you can literally see the circle where they build the turkey, the tiki bar, the fulling people from space. Hell yeah. Fun on the in on the in the camp spot across from the stadium. It's pretty fascinating. So I'm trying to get her all hyped for it. I got all my friends that they're all excited that she's coming. I got some gal pals that are gonna be there. They're always gonna take her under her wing so she's not lost and doesn't feel like it's just a drinking, farting dude fest. We're we're good, which is what I was worried about that she would think. So there's my uh time kill story while Jamie does the technical refix. So Jamie. So no, that's great.

SPEAKER_04 10:05

I I kind of I want to go to that. I want to do that one day.

August Gitshlag 10:08

I've never been either.

Jamie Flanagan 10:09

Yeah, do the race.

Matt Fox 10:10

It is seems like fun. It is worth it. Okay, what turn do you guys sit on? Or you're in the middle of the entire he said he was right on the line, right on the line.

August Gitshlag 10:18

On the brick line. So we we are in the inside. So you like basically I can't see any of the we watch the race on TV where our seats are because we're by the pavilion there. Yeah, on the in as we're we're underneath and facing the track the other way. So we're just looking at just the people across from us and the start-finish line. We have to watch it on a big gigantic TV. We can't see the other turns. I can see the one turn coming in and the one turn coming out. Everybody else in that stadium, which is holds, they don't know how many it holds. It could hold a half a million people.

Jamie Flanagan 10:48

You know, you know, let me let me tell you what happens. They they go left.

August Gitshlag 10:51

Yeah, I know. They go left. Yeah, but I can't see the you know, they're making another left turn of a minute. The minute it takes them to get around there at 190 miles an hour is insane.

Matt Fox 11:01

Yeah, I wonder what's gonna happen.

August Gitshlag 11:03

Right, I told her you're it the it there's gonna be a bunch of pomp and circumstance, there's gonna be a crazy flyover, it's gonna be some celebrities, it's gonna be fun. The race is gonna start, we're gonna sit there for about a half hour, see if anyone crashes, then we get up and go for a walk. Right, right. Yeah, and you go over and see if you can hear some of the 30,000 people that are at the techno party in the other corner at the snake pen. In the middle of you know, 400,000 people, yeah. And here's the craziest thing about the Indy 500 next in that stadium it's BYOB. Oh, really? You bring in your own coolers of booze, right? And they don't check them.

Matt Fox 11:32

Get out. So can I ask you a question, August? Uh no. Oh, okay. Are you gonna bring are you gonna bring Blakes to the city?

SPEAKER_04 11:38

You beat me to it.

Matt Fox 11:39

You beat me to it. Am I gonna bring what? Are you gonna bring to it? I'll let you ask that.

SPEAKER_04 11:42

Yeah, are you gonna bring Blake's? Absolutely. That's what Catherine drinks.

August Gitshlag 11:45

Catherine drinks ciders.

SPEAKER_04 11:47

I knew that.

August Gitshlag 11:47

She loves she loves your the Imperial American is her favorite, and and uh El Chavo. Hell yeah.

How Blake’s Chooses New Ciders

SPEAKER_04 11:54

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Those are her two, those are her bangers.

Jamie Flanagan 11:56

So a blake variety pack is her usual, has a yeah, has a pretty wide array of of flavors when it comes to stuff cider.

Matt Fox 12:05

Your portfolio, your portfolio just keeps Mike.

SPEAKER_04 12:08

At any one time, what uh how many because I'm sure it fluctuates, but uh so what where is it maxed out and what's like the average? It's a really great question. Too many is the answer. Uh if you if you really want me to be honest, something for everybody, maybe yeah. I mean, and that's what we try to do, and it's it's really hard to you know when when you move things in that are new, and we'll talk about a couple of those today. It's uh you got to kind of bleed out the old ones, and making those choices are are difficult, and you know, I but I would say we probably flux to you know, if it's just Blake's, we're looking at anywhere from 10 to 13 brands, and then you have you know anywhere from three to five SKUs for each one of those, okay. So it starts to multiply pretty quickly.

Matt Fox 12:53

They'll telefriend, and they have two friends.

SPEAKER_04 12:55

Exactly, exactly. Yeah, exactly. Um, I think we've done a good job over the last couple years of toning that down a little bit and being a little more strategic about flipping in new stuff and and removing something that either the sales are faltering or we're noticing a trend, you know, within the the category itself where we need to make some some pivots.

Jamie Flanagan 13:12

So, what was the pivot from flannel mouth going back to it just stole my question?

SPEAKER_04 13:19

The American is it American Imperial? American Apple, yeah, Imperial Apple. That that was the replacement ish, yeah, kind of. Um we did we did Blake's original for a little bit, which we still have out there. We're gonna actually yeah, with the kind of cartoony 70s apple on it. We're gonna sunset that. That actually is flannel mouse recipe, and then we have something new coming in the fall that I can't tell you about yet, but I think a lot of people are gonna be pretty excited about it. Okay, kind of rides that America American line, maybe a little bit on the drier side. I'll do that. That's that's where I'm at with that. So, Wayne, you like ciders, right? I love cider. What do you what do you look for when you're picking a cider? I I I have a sweet tooth. Okay, you go. All right.

August Gitshlag 14:02

So I I look for the sweeter side. Sure. Okay, all right.

Jamie Flanagan 14:05

See, now I I like them dry and not as sweet, and Colleen likes them dry as the Sahara and and not sweet as well. That's why the two of you get along so well.

August Gitshlag 14:14

It's like strongbow and then so like orchard, and then there's whatever things in between. I mean, what's the sweetheart?

SPEAKER_04 14:20

Yeah, I mean, I would say if you're looking at like the the macro, like the national angry orchards probably perceive the sweetest. Most of our line, specifically on the Blake side, yours are sweeter, dude. The sugar contents roughly the same across the board, a little higher on the Imperials for obvious reasons, got to bring that ABV up, but it really comes down to what's the what's the ancillary flavor in there, and does that bring more sweetness to it? You know, so you can kind of find them between. But really, American Apple came about. We saw a huge trend in the packet northwest, which is kind of the building blocks for a lot of the cider trends across the country. It's been cider country up there for a really long time. And that's why Catherine is another cider. That the the the craft side of the cider, the independent you know, supplier side of the cider in the pack northwest is you know maybe three or three to five years ahead of what kind of the Midwest and the East Coast was. And we saw Imperials skyrocketing in in some national data, and we're like, why aren't we doing this? And American Apple was born, and okay. Now the Imperial Blush is born, and you know, we kind of have you know our core normal six and a half percent, and then you know, we have our eight percent.

American Apple Tasting And Dryness

August Gitshlag 15:27

This is the one here that we all know, yeah, right. So let's just get this going next. And I do want to know what we should do first.

SPEAKER_04 15:32

Yeah, if we want to. I brought it because our baseline baseline, yeah. And last year last year we we had a really cool partnership with Carhartt. It was a really nice- I lost my hat.

August Gitshlag 15:41

I was looking everywhere for it yesterday.

SPEAKER_04 15:43

Really nice partners, partnership with them, raised some money for some charity for for farmers across the country. But we know that obviously farmers are struggling right now, and yeah, they put food on the table for us. And you know, I get to experience that you know firsthand. Apple's on the squeezer working for a farmer. And this year, obviously, with the 250th you know, anniversary of the United States. That's some nice packaging on the page. I wanted to yeah, I wanted to bring that out. So obviously, we still want to celebrate where we live, regardless of where you fall in the political spectrum. But uh obviously wanted to have we wanted to kind of carry over what we did a little differently with the with the imagery with with Carhartt and kind of build that with the 250.

Matt Fox 16:21

The darker, the darker red, the darker.

August Gitshlag 16:23

This is a phrase that I'm gonna use now that I wish I'd used more often in my life, but this can't a banger.

SPEAKER_04 16:27

Yeah, yeah, it's just like nice, juicy apple, it is super smooth, it can get it's not dangerous, cidery, like exactly apple cider or two apple juicy finds that middle ground. Yeah, stuff dangerous. 8% don't know it.

SPEAKER_01 16:40

Uh yeah, you you would not know that.

SPEAKER_04 16:42

Yeah, it'll catch you pretty quick. So Dave, are you a cider guy?

SPEAKER_01 16:45

I I'm not a big cider guy.

SPEAKER_04 16:47

Okay, all right.

SPEAKER_01 16:47

But I I enjoy this. But do you know?

August Gitshlag 16:49

So you might not know. So you're not having the right effect.

SPEAKER_01 16:52

Well, let me ask you maybe a dumb question because Andy was mentioning the flannel compared to now this one. Yes. What is the difference between the dryness? Yeah, flannel mouth.

SPEAKER_04 17:02

It was dry hopped, right? And no, not dry hopped, just uh it's more bright, I would say. You know, with flannel mouth kind of hits you almost like a champagne cider or champagne itself. The American Apple is gonna be a little bit more still, kind of gives you more of that, like, hey, cup of actual cider, sweet cider, kind of feel mouthfeel to it, and then obviously the higher ABV too. So again, a little extension of the series coming in the fall. I think those folks that like something a little bit more tannin related, a little bit drier are gonna be pretty excited about it.

Jamie Flanagan 17:33

Was there a uh pink lemonade one with a flamingo on it last year?

SPEAKER_04 17:36

That was a couple years ago. Yeah, that was he gone. Uh cherry, it was a cherry limeade. Yeah, he's gone. Is he gone? He is gone. All right, yeah. Our seasonals will kind of rotate out every two to three years, depending on how they do. And that was one of them.

Jamie Flanagan 17:51

Black Phillip keeps coming back. I like that. That he's he's kind of more of a fall entry into the thing, and he kind of goes away. I'm like, next fall, next fall, and then I'm at the grocery store and they're kind of clearing out the rest of them. They got them on sale, and I'm I I'm like, I'm grabbing it. Colleen's way to do it. It's like we got to get while the getting's good. Yeah, because Philip takes off. And I like Phillip. I like having Philip around. It is uh it is one of those.

SPEAKER_04 18:13

I did I bought five six packs because they had them in there on the sale. I thought I'm taking all five of them. Screw you. I've I just finished your sale for you. Yeah, yeah. I've you know, I've been Blake's forwarding cider cider whatever. I'm going on 11 years now at Blake's, and Black Philip still to this day is probably one of my favorite well-balanced liquids that we make across the board. It's uh blood orange. Blood orange, some really exciting news that I can share. That is coming back in June slash July as a year-round break. Oh, yeah. So that's good.

August Gitshlag 18:45

We're good, we're keeping it.

SPEAKER_04 18:47

Yeah, I mean, I think we decided.

August Gitshlag 18:48

I was okay with the VM seasonal, as long as it kind of decreed.

SPEAKER_04 18:51

It might only, you know, it might only be for it's like the mcrib, you know. 100% little package redesign. We're kind of flipping, making it not as dark as far as the packaging. Still kind of has that black Phillip feel, but a little bit more.

Jamie Flanagan 19:06

It's very satanic. The black Phillips.

SPEAKER_04 19:08

This one's a little less.

Jamie Flanagan 19:09

It's uh new packaging will be. It is scary. I done the old packaging.

SPEAKER_04 19:13

We might like it.

SPEAKER_01 19:14

We love the satanic stuff. Oh, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 19:16

I think uh satanic mechanic.

August Gitshlag 19:18

I think that's what do you think I do on weekends?

SPEAKER_04 19:19

Yeah, I think our designer did a good job. It looks really nice, still represents the actual feel of black Phillip without being super dark and you know, kind of in that fallish.

Jamie Flanagan 19:27

And I it comes in, it's nice when I I like pouring them in a glass. I like uh I got my pint glasses. You should I guess are the pint glasses chilled sometimes, all right.

SPEAKER_04 19:36

See, should always aerate your cider.

Jamie Flanagan 19:38

And I like I like pouring it into the glass, and the Philip just looks really nice. It does, it's got it's good colors, it's a good everything about that. It's a it's a good product.

SPEAKER_04 19:46

Yeah, all right.

Jamie Flanagan 19:47

So so we have new stuff.

SPEAKER_04 19:48

Well, we do have some new stuff.

Black Philip Return And Redesign

August Gitshlag 19:50

You saw me doing like a little piece of it. Yeah, you were telling me. I'm like, this shit ain't shit I seen before 100%. Now that that is that one over there. Let's go with that one. Yeah, we can go. Well, let's go with that. What is a cider? Yes, it is a blush cider. So is it strawberry blush? Got straight up box wine in there, yeah. Pretty much no.

Imperial Blush Strawberry Debate

SPEAKER_04 20:07

Um kind of an homage, if you do remember our rose from kind of like the mid to you know, mid 20, you know, 19, 2017, someone back there. I can't remember exactly. Wow. We realized that that was a really nice flavor profile for us. We wanted to bring something back again. We're finding that trend on Imperials is still continuing to kind of grow there, and it was kind of an in-between, like, hey, let's let's make a higher ABV, almost a rose, and came up with some really pretty packaging. And I think it's really nice. This doesn't sit on the sweeter side for me, it's nice and bright. The nose is not a great. The second I crushed the can, you can smell it. It looks beautiful. Yeah, it's a really pretty cider. The packaging's really pretty. We just launched this. Really, shipment started going out like March, April, and it is it is quickly climbing the ranks of one of our number one sellers.

August Gitshlag 20:56

What's your target audience here? I I mean, you know, 35-year-old women. Yep. Yeah, much like me, I'm after 35-year-old women.

SPEAKER_04 21:06

Um you know, but strong men love pink. So you got a pink shirt on, so we're so glad you're watching today. This is the one you'll watch. This is the Imperial matches my shirt. Yes. I I I really enjoy the cider. I I I've I have the luxury of tasting a lot of this stuff well before we put it out. This one was hitting the mark every single time we did a tasting panel. I was really excited for this to launch, and the consumers clearly are reacting to it. So thank you for anybody that's going out there and buying blush. Tell me a little bit about this. This is a little better than that. Tell me a little bit of the flavor on this. I think it is. It's just strawberry with kind of like again that that higher ABV is it natural strawberry? Is it what uh what we got? We're always using most of our our ancillary cider, our ancillary flavors are coming from a concentrate base. Okay.

Matt Fox 21:55

But it's a strawberry concentrate, exactly. Okay, yep, yep. I I will I will say that this.

SPEAKER_04 22:00

on the back end i feel like it's just like cotton candy because of the sugar content the eight percent it's like cotton candy sitting on the back of your on the back of your throat yeah i i don't hate i don't hate i don't hate this at all at all i'd love this because i say i like dry dry dry cider but i'm i'm i'm a sweet drink uh you know give me a cosmo i'm uh sure put a put an umbrella in it put an umbrella in it i'm i'm happy i don't know if imperial blush is is a sessionable cider where you're gonna crush you know seven or eight of these things but it's a nice treat you know that you could you could well somebody needs to test that out you might be in trouble after that but Matt you can volunteer you'll just uh I'll report back to you yeah report back let me know how 10 in a row went i've uh i'm very excited uh you know early with this i i think you know obviously we just talked about the weather it's only you know mid 50s and mid jo mid maybe i think when that that weather starts to crank up to 80 in the backyard it's gonna be a nice uh it'll be a nice cracker hundred percent it looks nice on the shelf i saw it in the store and i i saw and i saw i think i saw one of your promos on it some of your marketing on the on the line yep uh and then i saw it in the store and it looks good it catches your eye and stands out in that din of yeah of of noise there in the in the it stands out it's something we've i think always done a pretty good job of is is billboarding our products and and representing what's in it and you know we have some talented artists that have worked for us now and yeah throughout the years I know your marketing team it gets better and better as you know new things come out because the colors are vibrant it stands out and sticks out and you know being an old sales guy not necessarily uh in the market as much as I am it's a huge help uh when we could put a beautiful billboard out there and it kind of catches people's eye so we've always done this we've all done the same thing you buy the wine by the label because you know it's a cab and I like cabs and this one you got 500 other cabs 100 you know 500 they pick from you know so yeah definitely uh I'm very excited about this one early returns have been good and I think once that weather breaks even more specifically in the Midwest more and more folks are gonna start have I ever told you my first experience with Blake Snyder story I don't know if I want did I do this on that one did I do this on the the when you were here a couple years ago I think you did but it flew into my head when you said it's been 11 years.

August Gitshlag 24:15

Yeah it's and it dated like exactly where I was and where I was I can tell you I've been given uh free tickets to the Fitz in the Tansem show at the Fillmore this rings a bell in the 89x VIP section on the right and they had I'm like what do you mean Blake's is a hard cider and I was there with my cousin Phil and Greg Ganit when he first got married.

Austin Eastciders Lemonade Launch

SPEAKER_04 24:36

Oh wow okay also oh wow yeah and they're like I'm like what is this place they was all on tap yeah and we're like wow this is alcoholic cider Jesus guy's great you know what's funny that was probably 99% sure that was flannel mouth probably yeah I mean I mean we only made like four ciders back yeah yeah right I was gonna just the cider like at the time it was just oh hard cider yeah there was no other name to it it was just like pouring out like it's making hard cider and yeah yeah we got all lit up on hard cider was I at that concert with you no I didn't know you then oh you probably didn't I wasn't that cool back then all right all right Wayne sweetheart you like the sweet what what's your take on the uh Imperial blush I liked it yeah yeah it was a nice flavor yeah how how did uh when you first tasted it what was did it make your did it make your hair stand up a little bit oh I that's not what I thought you were gonna ask no just the way it hit you because it is you expect cider but you get the strawberry is that your nickname for it Matt well Matt it's interesting you bring that up because I I just looked at it because I didn't see the can so I had no idea what the flavor was so when I took it it was like oh I it was it just surprised me because I wasn't expecting strawberry the nose was huge strawberry when I got the can so nice all right I'm not usually a I shy away from strawberry flavors yeah myself I like strawberry if you hadn't hadn't had strawberry on the label I would have just I kind of would have just coasted with it sure yeah it did not overwhelm me with strawberryness yeah that's it's a tough balance when you're starting to flavor stuff that you don't want to take away from the the cider profile and reduce all those tanins and that flavor so there's a year I've never seen before my guys I know I got the third time you pointed you've been my friend a long goddamn time I know I know I know that's there I figured I'd change it up a little bit for those that don't know we have we merged these two things yeah so we what is this we actually acquired Austin eSiders as as a conglomerate about three years ago all right uh acquired that's been you know it's been an interesting path over the last you know couple years working within that brand now we have Blake's and Austin Austin e Ciders based out of Austin originally working on kind of bringing a little bit of Blake's flavor to that brand and this is something that we did in the Blake's lineup a few years ago is kind of that lemonade if anybody remembers we had a strawberry lemonade and a blueberry lemonade did really really well for us we thought we would you know work on bringing that flavor profile back to the Austin side of things and we have a dragon fruit and a Brazilian lemon but I made all right hold those up to the camera what do we got what do we got are these ciders they are actually not cider oh whoa that's what I was that's why I'm like well no something different here hard cider pseudo hard cider I guess and these guys are right are these molly beverages or are these what are they armata that's what says canned in armada yeah we're right down the street from we do make a a a good chunk of the Austin stuff in Michigan now okay so um so are these open up dragon fruit lemonade as well I'm a huge fan of the dragon fruit the Brazilian limeade is is semi with the traditional flavors is there a bikini line on this can? No there has Brazilian no a little bit of uh of like milk flavor to it which is not you know necessarily designed does this have an OnlyFans page it could we could start one if we want to so this does have a bikini line it does yeah the but huge huge hit for us back in the past we wanted to find a way to kind of brighten up what Austin ciders did they never really started to be carbonated that's like a so carbonate that's like a sweet tart it's a got a cider base but primarily kind of leaning more towards for me that's a sweet it's not merely the burn you get from some of these things that are out there now that are lemon flavor no it's tart it's it's the tart on the front but then it dissipates really quickly goes away yeah which is fine we've mixed cocktails in here that were more lemonade that were like a burn like a burn of lemon again this is very trying to find that again gluten free yeah yeah which is important it is for me it's well for my partner it's got a dry feeling at the on the back end sure that tartness is gonna stick on your tongue a little bit and uh I mean again you know a nice lemonade that you know has a pretty balanced this is a hot day boat crusher 100% it's refreshing uh 6.5 coming coming in at 6.5 and then the Brazilian limeade obviously you can get a little bit of lime in there and then you actually kind of get a little bit of my palate with your acujama no this is a nice lemonade with a lemonade with a slightly the dragon is it just I mean I've had some of the other ones like this the dragon fruit is just teasing the Simpli's hards and stuff they were much more like a sugar burn to that much more than that.

Jamie Flanagan 29:24

I don't know if it's because I had a welcome burn on that at all. I don't know if I because I had a welcome cocktail or we've had two other ciders but I would think this is just lemonade.

August Gitshlag 29:33

Oh and this one's clear well not as clear it's it's not as it's clearer it's clearer you'll get a little more clear but taste with this all right that a traditional Brazilian limeade is is has milk we try to find that flavor without using it's got a different notion punch recipe sure that another time yeah next time we do milk punch again we'll bring it in okay I thought I thought I would hate it yeah I thought it would be horrific I was scared about milk punch and I enjoyed the hell out of it we were at Kunan's weren't we when you did that it's milk bourbon citrus okay and bitters it's amazing somewhat similar it all curdles but if you call it milk punch and there's a like there's like this much milk it's gotta be what this is then they use put the milk in it so that it curdles up and you just get the protein or the is that the protein what's it called the the white stuff all curdles and they sort of skim it off and you get what's left.

SPEAKER_04 30:26

Yeah very also with any dairy restrictions though Brazilian lime we are not using true dairy.

August Gitshlag 30:32

Good you hear that cat you can make this dairy safe oh ooh limey yeah yes there's not too lime something else there's something else on there yeah you get that creaminess almost kind of yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah like when I go to like a lime creamsicle when I go to the bulk candy store that's a great description a lime creamsicle yeah when I go to the bulk candy store at the airport and I get all the jelly beans are all there I just go right for the lemon lime ones. Yeah yeah and this is kind of that right in between lemon and lime there you go I like it it walks a line.

SPEAKER_04 31:02

I'm glad you guys like it so what would you like where are you at tequila or chocolate to this on the boat oh my god on the boat great question on the boat adding that's when we do dumb shit there's nothing an old old co-worker of mine older gentleman at the time introduced me to tequila lemonade and I still to this day love that hot summer morning or hot summer morning hey you can't drink all day if you don't start the morning guys getting to me already you know what I'm talking about all right so I would say tequila but and I'm also not a vodka person either so all right well there you go vodka's got me in trouble a couple times so Wayne you like the sweets how are you with these the the lemonade and the lime they're good they both tasted well the the first one tasted really familiar and I can't place it but they were both very good I would come together in a multi-pack or are they separate?

Matt Fox 31:54

No they are separate six packs yeah separate six packs I wouldn't have I wouldn't have said that was had alcohol in it the lemon the lesson the lemonade one if you had the lime yes if you had blind tasted Mike's hard and the dragon fruit lemonade you would be able to distinctly know what the Mike's hard oh that's exactly what the burn I was talking about is Mike's hard lemonade that's the saccharine like that hotness yeah right that's what I was trying to think of but this doesn't have the dragon fruit lemonade that is just so it's unique is what it is for me. When I when I when I taste it I'm like I've never had this before this is something I would absolutely do on the side of the pool at the beach on the water.

SPEAKER_04 32:33

Yeah don't be scared away by the dragon fruit part it's very much more of a lemonade product yes it is a lemonade yeah I think that dragon fruits there just uh just totally down a little bit to get rid of that burn that we're that was giving a bottle ago something extra and I I have to believe some of it is marketing too because dragon fruit is everywhere now there you go that's part of it Starbucks is is you know everything's dragon fruit you know yeah and of and of a majority of the Austin products this these two are you know we're pushing these two pretty well here in Michigan so you should be able to find them so how did that do how how did all that come to be with honestly I'm the wrong person to ask that um you know it was uh when I take my tour I'll ask yeah it was uh 20 gosh dude it was uh 2021 I would say and I remember just kind of murmurs and then you start running numbers for people that you've never met before and then you know six months later it's like hey we're gonna bring this brand on and wow you know here we are you know three years later and this is this will be our first our third full year I believe having Austin under which is now the Blake's Beverage Co you know umbrella that's great so I'd love to see expansions and you guys are expanding in different revenue streams for lack of a better term right you know and then just learning that audience compared to what the traditional Blake's audience is I think you know we can have fun in both brands but maybe do something a little bit different in Austin that we could in Blake's and vice versa.

Jamie Flanagan 33:56

So this is a carbonated hard limeade with natural flavors. So the alcohol is just like a clear spirit added to basically a sugar brew.

SPEAKER_04 34:06

Okay. Yeah a seltzer base pretty much okay because I'm trying to read the ingredients I'm like I don't see any no cider fermented and that's why I asked like where are we on the spectrum yeah all right and that's a again where we're you know we can kind of Austin was doing that stuff with some of their brand before we brought them on keeping Blake's you know pretty much all cider based across the board oh yeah much better and then you know being able to have maybe potentially some seltzers and things like that that we could put in the Austin 170 calories dude yeah I mean I'm looking at my girlish figure here what are you doing to me if you're looking for something good don't drink alcohol in the first place.

Short Thing Vodka Lemonade RTDs

August Gitshlag 34:45

Yeah that's Shecky Henny we are not the good for you bro take my wife please uh you know uh that's uh good years we're head for a rock garden yeah oh did anyone watch the Kevin Hart roast not yet not a little a little bit of it I saw some clips Netflix wanted me to watch it in the worst way it's like it's coming on it's coming on it's better than me all these word of one clip we'll talk about it after the show fair enough I think I know which one you're talking about we don't do politics right hilarious yeah it was hilarious that was that was was Pete Davidson yes yes I Pete Davidson that one sold the show from what I understand I got it him and Chelsea handler killed it all right so this thing here what's going on with what the fuck is that short thing shorty why is this in this is this shorty you guys asked Blake's Hard cider to come in and I brought you four non-siders with this shorty is this uh why is this in a skinny can yeah question you can't answer no I can answer that question and if I'm being true because it costs more to do a double machine the change over the changeover for production on our canning line is a huge pain in the ass and we don't want to do it.

SPEAKER_04 35:52

That's that's the right answer.

August Gitshlag 35:53

There you go perfectly fine. So this is a sure thing classic lemonade and vodka.

From Idea To Shelf Testing

SPEAKER_04 35:58

Yeah we have a lot of competition in this market we know that and I think both of these like if you're a what's the brand I'm thinking about right now shit I can't even think of truly or uh yeah uh high noon high noon yeah my wife's on the high noons what's only what surfside is the hottest thing over there you go yeah this is a they're non carbonate fantastic local option we just launched this the feedback initially has been really really good I'm super excited about this we've been trying to dip our toes into RTDs for a very long time okay ready to drinks and here we are we have a peach lemonade and a standard lemonade vodka based I think they're fantastic I think they stand up really really well with the national brands all right and if you're looking for something different and you're kind of sick of the high noons in the world or the true vodka based you're talking to one of them right now I just try it out yeah I think they stand up really well again not necessarily something I'm gonna be drinking every day because I'm not a vodka guy but I think the flavor's there I think it's smooth and you don't get that like you don't get that base vodka I don't get the chemical background synthetic piece yeah again and our sugar sides did a great job of that that's a great that's a really good example they're they did the best job of the non what's the stuff they put in diet coke that makes them uh sacrum stevia no no no whatever no stevia's fine yeah yeah it's the stevia the stevia is a it's a that's a natural sugar it's the chemical one that that makes that's why they call diet coke uh fridge cigs yeah aspartine oh yeah aspartine that's aspartine I was going the wrong way aspartine you're going more natural than the yeah I mean and this is just I mean obviously there's some added sugars to it but yeah it doesn't have the aspartine burn yeah again you're not gonna get this one this one on the boat yeah this one you're not gonna get the better for me at the 100 calorie mark but I think I think we're sitting at like I think we're sitting at like 120 150 somewhere there and this just tastes like really good lemonade a bunch of drone ass men counting calories here and that's the whole point you have that like kind of bad aftertaste yes I think again if you're look if you're that drinker and you are drinking the high noons and the vodka based stuff I think this is a really good change up obviously here in Michigan short thing that's you know kind of our target it's primarily going to live in the Midwest and it's vodka not the the neutral spirit they put into like the uh the yeah the high noons they call they don't some of them don't even call the high noons I think are primarily vodka but you know they have they have tequila ones why am I not thinking about the other side so the good example is like this is a sugar boot it's a seltzer the way it's water and sugar based and then this is actually going to have that seltzer base but you're adding the booze is coming from what was that first seltzer the first white claw yeah white claw they don't call it vodka they don't know because that's a sugar that's a that's a malted that's a malted product right right right so this same thing with like these lemonades are malted so that's like the lemonades this one is a vodka though a vodka recipe this is a cocktail do you guys make the vodka? No we bring that in okay we can still but we don't have the facility capacity to put that much extra is that local vodka or you just the kind of questions we ask buddy yeah these are things that uh I don't have the answer. No you're good you're good no we're sourcing that vodka probably from a uh you know an American supplier and that's about it if anything everybody's doing if anything most pop most people are probably sourcing that from the same like handful of companies we know oh we know MGP MGP but who makes it who finishes it better is really what it comes down to but I'm very excited about this early returns have been really good the feedback's been really good not only from our wholesale partners but some of the consumers I've talked to personally and just listening to our sales team the if these continue to do well I see us extending this line with different flavors potentially different liquors and you know coming back with maybe a couple more flavors not only this year but next year which so that the high noon has a watermelon they have a peach they've got I could it tastes exactly like it's supposed to taste that's not my thing I'm not a big peach in my booze guy and this is orange this is an orange isn't it peach this is peach I'm sorry peach dog I could see us doing and E A C H I could see us doing a half and half pretty soon uh Arnold Palmer style oh yeah yeah yeah um and then I if if that you know that's a huge hit for the surf side brand that's our biggest one if that's successful I could see us kind of expanding out of like the full lemonade style and maybe doing like a watermelon or you know something closer to high noon and expanding that out a little bit so actually I'm kind of brand new I mean you're that could be the peach all day if you're going out and finding a six pack you are literally probably one of the first you know few hundred people to buy that six pack it's just hitting shelter right now so that's very excited about it episode number 98 with the lady from Blackbush who did not slap us for saying that yeah I said that on episode yeah how did we manage to do an entire show here without no not one of us has our glassware sponsor today oh you're right there's no fire bird glasses no is the dishwasher still full yeah actually yeah there's a few of them flipped the golden girls magnet from uh to Blanche no they're clean they're gonna have to grab it can you hand me an extra cup I kind of want a little uh yeah we've been we've all been tasting you've just been you want to walk in your own product yeah I get to drink enough of these so but I wanted a little bit of lemonade because I haven't had one since as uh I'm actually really enjoying the Pete one since breakfast so yeah I know right right my tequila for breakfast now that Pete Shore thing that is something special for me here it is man I really I do enjoy that I was I was excited to bring them specifically after talking with the sales team over the last week and and the feedback they're getting because I don't really get to have that consumer or buyer talk as much as I used to I just have my own opinion and what the people around me so why don't you get out there amongst the people some more buddy I you know they I know there was no track suit party this year so they fucking trap me in my office lemonades lemonades lemonade lemony we got a couple lemonade lemonade lemonade no no but this peat the peach it has a a a a natural flavor to it it does it's it's it's it's it's clean it's it's not like a peach candy thing or something like that. None of these are very candy no right like I'm the opposite of the or synthetic card which is super candy yeah if I'm not getting synthetic I'm I'm getting I'm getting natural I'm getting clean I'm getting carbonation and peach we try to keep a clean label as much as possible and honestly like when it comes to flavor I think we've proven that we've done a fantastic job over the last 13 15 years you know maybe not a hit on every single one but I think we balance them really well and you can see that in a ready to drink and we're pretty excited to kind of hit every single one of these cans that you've brought in they're all gluten free and dairy free yes yes so so Mike what what the I'm gonna get nerd out for a minute what's the process of developing something new and what what's the process of testing it's gonna room to get it to market stealing from parents believe it or not it's really eight o'clock in the morning tricky comes in I've been there another shot Mike um you know it kind of depends it's a really good question you know it if it's something like this we knew we wanted to do this for a long time it's like okay what direction do we want to go and we go clearly we went in the lemonade direction but you know we're sitting there and you know you're tasting out five different beers next time burping the mic it's more fun yeah I didn't want to do that it was like a wet burst yeah always it's okay we do it all the time right he went out there fart as well when it comes to you know we're looking at kind of national trends we're looking at data we're trying to see what flavors are coming for the potential next year or even year out from that and then it's really our our you know our innovation team and the seller just kind of putting their heads together a lot of these guys you know we we do kind of uh trial some things in the in the tasting room that can drive it um or you know the seller usually has some extra time depending on extra juice where they'll just make something because they have an idea and yeah they'll bring it to Powers at B, and they'll say, Hey guys, taste this. And then we're like, okay, refine it, bring it back to us. Scale, can we scale this? What's the cost? And etc.

August Gitshlag 44:08

Are there any job openings on the innovation team? It kind of sounds like those guys in C Rock Park that sat on beanbags and invented windows.

SPEAKER_04 44:16

Maybe not, maybe not for the general public out there, but Wednesday's two o'clock. If you find yourself in Armada, there's a job fair going on the board.

SPEAKER_01 44:26

You know what? That's so funny, Mike. I am gonna be in Armada Tuesday night and a Wednesday morning for a high school hypnosis show. So there you go.

SPEAKER_04 44:34

So 7 a.m. Yeah, usually Wednesday's two minutes after a whole night with high school games. Yeah, absolutely. So yeah, then we're just you know, we kind of pass through that. We we do a trial that you know. Sometimes those first trials don't taste great, but we like the idea of it, or that we like the semi-flavor base, and then it's like, hey, come back with us, refine this a little bit more, and maybe we'll tweak it or add another flavor profile to it and uh just kind of build from there. And then and then where do we put it? You know, where do we put it in the lineup? Is it year-round? Is it seasonal? Is it you know a limited time offering just to test it and see what happens? This tastes like Christmas.

SPEAKER_01 45:11

Do you get it out like do you get it out to like the public for tasting? Like, is there or no?

Where To Buy Across The US

SPEAKER_04 45:16

It depends. I mean, we have done you know, some panels and things like that for like a tasting board or something. A lot of times we're using the tasting room as that kind of panel, yeah. Or we'll put something in, you know, a limited time offering where it's like, hey, we're just you know, our our distributors and retailers get to buy it basically once and then it hits, and we're like, okay, we should bring that back a little bit, you know, and extend extend that season out a little bit.

Jamie Flanagan 45:42

So all right. So in Michigan, I see you in Kroger, or is it Meyer as well? Yeah, yeah. All right, and then uh local party stores all over the place. Yeah, the locals have it, yeah.

August Gitshlag 45:52

And like you're an end cap at every big store.

Jamie Flanagan 45:54

Yep. There's a Blake if we get lucky, you know, it's it's hard to think sometimes. And then so, but there's a lot of expressions. Does that make your your big box stores a little crazy? With like, we're not carrying 14 different varieties, dude.

SPEAKER_04 46:09

It's a great question.

Jamie Flanagan 46:10

Make up your damn mind.

SPEAKER_04 46:11

Yeah, and it it's uh it it's a fun balance. We we try to present what we think is gonna do best within those stores. Uh I think uh the some of the national retailers have come to trust our innovation where we can say, like, let's remove like if we're gonna true swap, let's remove this one for this one because we think it's already gonna do better. That's true. Sometimes they don't listen to you, sometimes they we're pretty lucky with Meyer obviously being a Michigan company. They've supported us really from the beginning. Kroger does a really good job for us, and then there's you know, obviously, they also support you because you sell, yeah.

August Gitshlag 46:47

Yeah, we kind of give everybody a shot, yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_04 46:49

You know, I mean it can be limited depending on the the territory. I think in Michigan, we get you know pretty much carte blanche, and we say, hey, we want these five skews because that's the best that we could put forward, and then we might get some extra space like an end cap or a seasonal or limited things like that. It's explain to our tough game. A skew is basically a the I don't know the definition of it, I just know it as skew. So it is one every different variety has its own. It's a space on a shelf. One brand line is a skew for us.

August Gitshlag 47:19

So so it's the barcode. That's cool. So six expressions on a shelf, yeah. There you go. Six versions on a shelf.

Jamie Flanagan 47:25

Your Michigan stores, your Michigan Kroger, your Michigan Meyer carrying these and and and party stores outside of Michigan, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 47:32

Where are we at? I know we've talked about this, but we'll just yeah.

August Gitshlag 47:34

I mean, you're talking are we at the point where we're less states you aren't in?

SPEAKER_04 47:38

Yes, that's I thought so. Yeah, specifically when you consider Austin E-siders, that we also do have a you know another small brand in the pack northwest called Avid that primarily lives in Washington and Oregon and kind of that plain state a little bit. Avid makes some really good, we make some really good siders for Avid. It's it's fantastic. We can get away with some weird shit out in the pack northwest because we're used to it. Major retailers, if you're looking in like the southeast, you're talking Harris Teeter, Albersons. We got a huge Publix win the last two years. They're really starting to actually buy into the brand. Florida, Georgia. Life moves a lot slower to Publix in Florida. It kind of does. It's Texas, it's HEB in that pack northwest, slash, you know, kind of across the country, Albersons, which I believe is a Kroger, and then you know, in that Chicagoland, what's the I can't think of the damn store.

August Gitshlag 48:29

I mean, if you look at regional train chains, there's been a version of uh I can't think of it. There's Binnies, that's their version of Total Wine.

SPEAKER_04 48:37

Yeah, that's yeah, exactly. Total wine's another good one. So bringing that up. They've always supported us really good, right? Do they have the would Total Wine have more?

Matt Fox 48:45

Yeah, we try to make it easier to find us the whole time. Would Total Wine carry more variations, more SKUs?

SPEAKER_04 48:50

Uh it depends. I mean, it depends on the territory. Or Benny's. They kind of have so like a Binny's, you know, will pretty much bring everything in to a point. Total wine kind of will regionalize it a little bit and maybe kind of give some variation based on where we're.

August Gitshlag 49:11

Yeah. I always like, hey everybody, look at my boys.

SPEAKER_04 49:15

Pete uh Pennsylvania's traditionally been one of our better markets. Outside of Michigan, it's really Ohio and Illinois and Indiana are always kind of fighting for the top five. North Carolina and then Pennsylvania are up. North Carolina apples down there. North Carolina was like one of our first blowout states outside of Michigan.

August Gitshlag 49:34

Well, they they're they despite what you might say about their politics, there's a lot of drinkers in North Carolina. Yeah, yeah, a lot of crafts. It's like a surmix a lot, so Asheville is a thing. Yeah, they they uh they appreciate the independent. Mike's like, all these guys are talking about that trying to talk about the good stuff you're doing. These guys are just fucking around. Come on. I knew what I was walking into. We're pretty tame today because Jimmy didn't go to the Irish ship before this. Hey, Irish!

Matt Fox 50:05

Oh yeah. You were gonna ask a question. I was gonna ask a question. So let's say I'm in Georgia, yeah, and I want to find a I want to find the strawberry yeah, right?

SPEAKER_04 50:14

Yeah.

Matt Fox 50:15

Great question. I want to find the lush online or the blush. I'm sorry. Matt wants to find a lush.

SPEAKER_01 50:23

I can find a lush for you.

Matt Fox 50:26

Your age, I don't think so. I go to the website, yeah, and put in my zip code and it'll tell me where that's located in that state. Nice.

SPEAKER_04 50:33

Yeah, I would trust that 95%. Sometimes it's a little off. Obviously, we get that from our depletion data. Sometimes it's a little delayed, but for the most part, yes, you can go to our website, type in a zip code.

Matt Fox 50:44

Yeah, I told you.

SPEAKER_04 50:45

You can filter it to brand. Yep, but otherwise, I mean, really, yeah, Georgia Publix Total Wine can't go wrong.

Matt Fox 50:52

Because I have to plan ahead. Because I told you earlier I'm going to New York in the summertime. And I don't know if you guys are in that area.

SPEAKER_04 51:00

And yeah, like Augie said, I mean, it's pretty much there's only fly and load up the car, baby.

August Gitshlag 51:05

I want to say you're gonna call me Augie, I use Uncle in front of it. The brilliant, like my nieces and nephews.

SPEAKER_04 51:10

Um the uh I would say what's up, uh the states we're not in are Mississippi, good for you, um Utah for obvious reasons.

August Gitshlag 51:22

Yeah, it's very a little restricted. Too many dry cars.

SPEAKER_04 51:25

Our ABB can't even sell in there. So and I honestly I think that might be it at this point. For Blake specifically, Montana, maybe not, but when you talk about altering Guam, we are in Alaska.

August Gitshlag 51:36

I love that you're in Alaska. We are not Hawaii yet or that's a hell of an ice road trucker, but for Blake's exciter.

SPEAKER_04 51:42

But we are in Alaska, which is crazy.

Jamie Flanagan 51:44

That's awesome.

Sponsors Plus Ireland Bar Story

August Gitshlag 51:45

Right in right down right there in Juneau and Anchorage. Yeah, I I know that we're coming up on an hour, but I got two things I gotta get in here.

Jamie Flanagan 51:52

You did. You had a couple. Okay, I have a couple.

August Gitshlag 51:54

Well, one is our sponsor. Well, that's well, yes, but I also have a story about our sponsor. Let us know your sponsors. Well, we have two, right?

Jamie Flanagan 52:01

Well, brought to you today by Blake's Hide.

August Gitshlag 52:05

Then that's gonna be like four sponsors, right? Yeah, so Blake's hard side.

SPEAKER_04 52:09

Well, yeah, it's uh, but uh, you know, of course, wearing funny.com for wearing funny or funny rock and roll, funny t-shirts, wearing funny.com, and and my Irish radio.

August Gitshlag 52:24

Why are you always gonna talk about your fucking Irish radio? That's it.

Jamie Flanagan 52:29

Oh, he's gonna put the hat on. I'm so glad about it last night. The masseuse across the hall loves the seven o'clock. She's got her little she's got her bowls in the round, the scene in their own.

August Gitshlag 52:43

Everybody's seven places. So look, here's the story. There's a story. So everybody's got their heads so far up Ireland's ass, right? Everybody. Oh, yeah. Catherine's like, oh, I went to Ireland once, I'm still in love with Ireland. I'm like, fuck off. My my sister-in-law is like, Oh, I've been to Ireland once, I'm still in love with Ireland. Fuck off. If the place is so great, why'd everybody leave? They're all in Boston, Chicago, whatever. Why are you saying that in an Irish accent? I didn't really have a fucking something. Anyway, last night we're at McGee's. One thing about Kat going to Ireland, she said she loved it when Irish men called her Cotrin. Ah, Cotrin. So it's a thing that it's like become a thing at home because it's, you know, Cotron, and it's like quicker than Catherine. It's not as formal as Catherine, not as informal as Kat. So I call her Catrin. So we were at McGee's, and you know, this thing with Spirit Airlines and Lebuff is difficult, right? Yeah, yeah. So I I walked the line between honey, we shouldn't have another one, and honey, you should cut loose. You know, like what do you what game do you play? Where do you go from where do I go? Yeah, and I'm not doing pretty well. So we just went for our one at Toko and our one at McGee's. We're leaving. Nice. And Eric chases us out. So where the hell are you guys going, man? I gotta come and do a shot. I'm like, shit. So, you know, we're gonna we're gonna go, we're about to leave. And Kat starts talking about Catrin. It's time, and a guy goes, Cotron? Catron? And I go, she goes, Yeah, that's what they call me, you know, in Ireland. He goes, Oh, do they now? That's what they call you in Ireland. I run into one fucking Irish guy in the Eastern Market on a Sunday night. Three people in the bar, and now they start, you know, oh yeah, Ireland. Oh, they're all the guys are all the guys are so well dressed, but all the girls look like snooky. And it's like, oh, one Irish guy, oh Cochran, you must be Irish. No, I'm just an asshole. So that's the one story I had to get in. Oh second is there's a story in this room that's missing. Uh oh. It's kind of the lead, might have been buried. If you look around, you might find it. I need to know what the fuck is up with the hypnotist masturbation injury.

SPEAKER_01 54:40

Oh, Jesus. No. So I can correct you on this.

SPEAKER_04 54:45

Is he left-handed though?

SPEAKER_01 54:46

August, first of all, this is my right hand. Yeah, we all know about the stranger and we miss him. This is my left hand. You gotta hold your phone. It was not my masturbation hand, it was the opposite hand. It's the stranger, and we all miss the stranger. We like him back. Do you sit on it too so it gets numb? What the I did, I do. But what the stranger did was try to pick up a cast iron skillet while he was cooking. Oh, so that's a hot handle. He was uh what was he doing to the skillet? Oh, finger banging it. Finger banging my skillet. There we go. And honestly, the fingers are okay. It's the palm that's the palm is messed up. Right, okay.

Matt Fox 55:29

He just wanted it ribbed. That's all he wants. Nothing like instant regret. Waxum, wax um, wax um.

SPEAKER_01 55:35

And I've cooked with this cast iron skillet for years. That's my key.

August Gitshlag 55:39

When the Mexican restaurants bring the beef it is in that little cast iron stomach because you're like, you're like, God damn, I forgot.

Matt Fox 55:44

You gotta get the rubber condom.

SPEAKER_01 55:45

I you know what's what's funny, Mike?

Matt Fox 55:47

Oh, this is great.

SPEAKER_01 55:49

I just got a notification. So we went to the ER last night at like seven. That's fresh. We ate dinner first because I was cooking fillets. I can't wait. That beef is we ate dinner first, that smelled good, and then she said, We're going to the emergency room. And I'm like, nah, she goes, No, we're going. So I go. So it was just last night. And what was the question? I got sidetracked.

SPEAKER_04 56:12

No, the the rubber condom rubber condom. I love my oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 56:16

So this morning I get an Amazon. This morning, when I get to work, I get an Amazon notification that a silicone pot holder has been ordered.

August Gitshlag 56:27

You're always listening.

SPEAKER_01 56:28

My wife, my wife ordered it.

SPEAKER_04 56:30

You're gonna love it. Yeah, pot holder. I uh yeah, I put I love my cast iron skillet. Yeah, and yeah, I didn't control the heat sometimes, but I had the same problem.

August Gitshlag 56:43

It always scares me. I can't control the heat. Yeah, you're just a bad cook then. Yeah, I am. Yeah, he's on a barbecue or a smoker. I don't think he's on ovens. You're good. Stovetops are foreign to me.

SPEAKER_01 56:51

Yeah, that's oh no, this this if you're gonna stovetop something, the iron skillet is the only way to go.

SPEAKER_04 56:56

Yeah, I love that, I love it, I love it so much. But yeah, I got the you know, it's a rubber cotton on the end.

SPEAKER_01 57:02

Well, I have it now, so good for you. Yeah, the wife was probably in the ER going, all right.

Jamie Flanagan 57:06

I'm not saying immediately ordering it while they're waiting for the doctor.

Matt Fox 57:10

I love it.

SPEAKER_01 57:10

She's like, it's Mother's Day. I gotta take my stupid husband to the ER.

Matt Fox 57:14

I'm still mulling over the the hypnotist masturbation for his pleasure.

Skillet Burn And Final Cheers

Jamie Flanagan 57:20

Yeah, oh my god, uh we have the wonderful anti-gravity man cave happy hour coasters.

August Gitshlag 57:29

Oh, fantastic. Stickers don't soak up uh moisture like the cork. Oh, he already had a blowout on videos. This is what happens when you get your uh coasters from wish.com.

SPEAKER_04 57:39

If you yeah, if you have uh if you have a bar, we'll come and do the man cave in your bar. We'll have new you'll get you'll get a lovely set of coasters.

SPEAKER_01 57:48

You know, this offer's been out there for quite a while.

Jamie Flanagan 57:50

We got them up on it.

August Gitshlag 57:53

I don't have a good we didn't have coasters, yeah.

Jamie Flanagan 57:55

Okay, now I gotta get better coasters because these are crappies. These they're they're anti-gravity. Look at that. It just oh, because they stick to the drink.

SPEAKER_01 58:03

I think the cork, they're like the water, they're just wicked. Yeah, on paper, it looked great. You just gotta use them upside down.

SPEAKER_04 58:11

That's it. Yeah, that's it. Okay, we need to get you guys out to the patio for one. Oh, there we go. You know, it was like in a transition of who was running that part of our business, and I was like, Oh, we'll be back.

August Gitshlag 58:25

Because those emails, those email addresses went dead on us.

SPEAKER_04 58:27

Well, yeah, because they they left, they left or the fire, but I couldn't remember what the situation was. It was bad timing because they were excited about it. So we'll just say jump and we're bringing how high we're bringing friends. We got a whole fresh crew of our marketing team, so I will I'll put it in the air.

August Gitshlag 58:43

You're the longest tenured employee there, besides the owners, right?

SPEAKER_04 58:46

Close. There's a couple guys in production that were there the year before me, but yeah, otherwise, I'm the I'm the OG, I'm the uh elder statesman there for sure.

Matt Fox 58:53

I bet to have you here, man. Honestly, yeah. No, I'm excited. I'll come back.

SPEAKER_04 58:56

I haven't been able to talk about a product like this in a while, and it's fun to do. And obviously, I've always enjoyed your guys' company, so there's no reason.

Jamie Flanagan 59:03

And you're always super generous with like all the fundraisers. More than generous, you guys are amazing. We're gonna have we're gonna the philanthropy tracksuit hit a hit a road bump.

August Gitshlag 59:13

And uh but uh I Magnum's back this year. Magnum have another Magnum.

SPEAKER_04 59:18

Nice nice for being able to do something that uh I I truly enjoy. Work for a brand that I think does things primarily the right way and and puts stuff out there that we we like that we hope the consumer likes. On top of that, being able to do little things in my mind to help, you know, any type of organization. It's still filling, you're still filming it. And you get to have fun at the same time. So, I mean, that's you know, that's kind of a blessing.

August Gitshlag 59:40

I could be just, you know, what's great for Mike is because of the freeway closures and I know where he lives, yeah. Yeah, the the route home is gonna take him past yield, and I know he's gonna stop.

SPEAKER_04 59:50

No, I see the problem is I I don't know if I know anybody there other than one person, and she doesn't work tonight.

August Gitshlag 59:55

So um I thought about it on the way over here though. So uh because it's taking us down Woodward, and I'm going to the Elks to watch the Pistons game. Yeah, no, yeah. That's the problem.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:03

I want to try to get you know back to you know closer to home if we watch the Pistons game.

August Gitshlag 1:00:07

What's your east side watering hole of choice now that you're old?

SPEAKER_04 1:00:09

Oh boy, I don't know if I'm gonna get judged harshly for this or no. No, there's no judgment. So my neighborhood, uh there's good fellas right off of the city. Yeah, I know goodfellas as well. Yeah, it's an interesting crowd. I love it. I love the people that work there.

August Gitshlag 1:00:20

Never at night. During the day, I love that place.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:22

Yeah, I mean, I'm that's me. I'm a happy hour and go home because I have family and shit and um yeah, that's my that's kind of my special. That's a rough neck joint, though. Um, it it it's an eclective group of people that hang out there and you don't know what you're gonna do.

August Gitshlag 1:00:36

One of my dear friends, Matt Barnes, is one of those 8 a.m. pool shooting veterans that's gonna be. It's a breakfast bar.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:41

Yes, it's a breakfast bar, so they're open. It's a 7 a.m. bar, but it's uh you know, uh walking distance and a few blocks from a house. And there you go, be safe, and you know, and the the people are friendly always, so that's kind of my spot. But you know, being on the east side spent five years now, I'm you know, like I'm still exploring.

Jamie Flanagan 1:00:59

I love I love the east side, so it's uh while so like, subscribe, leave a comment, do all those podcast things in all the podcast places. Up next is uh that guy, David Wright, the most important with my with my burn left hand.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:12

I'll see you in a few moments. All right, you're useless to me now.

SPEAKER_06 1:01:15

Thank you for having me on there, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:18

You are always welcome. Yeah, thank you. Go buy some blakes this summer once again. Absolutely above 65 degrees.

Jamie Flanagan 1:01:24

Take it on the boat and let us know.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:25

I'm telling you what, short thing, y'all, for those RTD guys out there. I think this is a nice uh local option. Um I'm pretty pumped about it. So otherwise, always a pleasure. Thank you. Ready to drink, guys.

August Gitshlag 1:01:34

Honestly, ready to drink is RTD. Yes, port can right over ice.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:37

Don't ask me about skews, ready to drink hideous.

August Gitshlag 1:01:40

Yeah, and I think that go just to say that people don't realize that these are sometimes cocktails in a can. They drink them out of the can. Yeah, like the my favorite one it's people that drink cut waters out of the can are dum-dums. It's supposed to be put over ice, and I'm one of those dumdums.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:55

Ours is ours is made to be put over ice, but yes, if you want it over ice, if you can't do that, yeah, as a cocktail, it's shape saves you from shaking. Yeah, 100% when you're an alcoholic.

August Gitshlag 1:02:07

Shakespeare.

Matt Fox 1:02:08

It's the sugar.

August Gitshlag 1:02:09

Mike, thanks for everything you do. Uh personally, yeah. For me and the charity stuff that I do, you're always there for us. Thanks for always being there when we call.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:16

Yeah, let's see if we can get you guys out to the farm.

August Gitshlag 1:02:18

We called him one day and he was incorporated. Yeah, I'm meant to ask him a question, and he answered it without him. I'm live now. We held him on his the my speakerphone up to the we did a Blake's episode without him on a whim because we had nothing to do. Oh my god. I called him on a whim. He was literally like, you were walking through the groceries tampons for his wife or something.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:39

I'm the grocery shopper of the house, walking through the grocery store, high as fuck. And then I got I got August called me and asked me questions about Blake's. I'm like, I'm on air right now, right? Oh and then people are like, you know, walking by me, like, what the fuck is this guy?

August Gitshlag 1:02:52

I'm doing a radio show. Mad, mad props for that, Michael. That was a fun night. That was fun, really good. We didn't keep it too long, it was only like three or four minutes, but it was fun.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:59

The funny thing is, I saw a guy, and I think I sent you a picture, was buying his on his way out. I was like, should I buy? That was the only thing he had, and then I asked him, and he was like, This is for my mom in New York. I'm like, You can buy it in New York, bro, but thank you. That's great. That was nice. Uh good anecdote right there. That was a good one. Thanks, Mike. That was fun. Yeah, all right.

August Gitshlag 1:03:16

Wayne, thanks. You first over there.

Matt Fox 1:03:18

Thanks, guys.

Jamie Flanagan 1:03:19

Yes, Dave, Wayne. Thank you guys for being here, man. Absolutely. Always.

Matt Fox 1:03:24

I like the I like the impromptu invite. The uh, yeah, man. Yeah, absolutely. Across for me is Matt Fox. Uh, cross next to me is August Gitchlag, the voice of the show Jamie Flanagan, right there.

August Gitshlag 1:03:36

How many days to retirement, buddy? Oh, 18.

SPEAKER_06 1:03:39

18 high school, yeah.

Jamie Flanagan 1:03:43

18 days for kids.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:44

Hell yeah. Congratulations.

Jamie Flanagan 1:03:46

All right, cheers, everybody. Cheers, everyone. Cheers.

August Gitshlag 1:03:48

Cheers, everyone. Go pistons.

unknown 1:03:49

Go pistons all.